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These quacks are in a bit of trouble. The FTC and FDA have decided that they are sick of bogus cancer cures, and have sued a handful of companies.
WHAT THE HELL TOOK THEM SO LONG?
And more important, are they going to go after more snake oil salesmen? There is nothing special about the companies…
In 1971 under the National Cancer Act, Congresss authorized the 3-person President's Cancer Panel which is charged with monitoring the "development and execution of the National Cancer Program" and preparing periodic progress reports for the President. Over the years, the Panel has…
We've got some new ScienceBloggers spreading the science and dishing the knowledge. Learn more about A Vote for Science, Genetic Future, Science After Sunclipse and Built on Facts after the jump.
In a recent post, Genetic Future asks: is personal genomics dead?
Welcome to the new blog roundup,…
I love language, which I suppose is as good a reason as any for being a writer. I'm also terribly critical---I hate misuse of language, especially my own. I'm not talking about silly grammatical rules that real speech renders moot. I'm talking about the misuse of words that actually changes…
Earlier this year, the Charlotte Observer published an excellent and disturbing series on the dangerous working conditions at poultry plants, and employersâ efforts to keep worker injuries from being reported. Now, the Observerâs Ames Alexander reports that poultry worker Thomas Jurrissen told…
by revere, cross-posted at Effect Measure
We've discussed the component of plastics bisphenol A (BPA) here before (here, here) but yesterday the Journal of the American Medical Association published a significant paper with an accompanying editorial that deserves mention. A panel of the FDA was…
Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the U.S., and at any moment directly affects almost 4% of the population, or about 10.8 million Americans. A diagnosis of cancer can be one of the most frightening moments in someone's life, and yet most people understand little about the disease. I…
Celeste Monforton will be testifying tomorrow at a hearing of the House of Representatives Committee on Education and Laborâs Subcommittee on Workforce Protections (10am, 2175 Rayburn). Sheâll be speaking about the Department of Laborâs proposed worker health risk-assessment rule, which might have…
Iâm repeating myself here, but itâs for a good cause. At the Project on Scientific Knowledge and Public Policy at George Washington University School of Public Health, weâve launched a multi-part study to understand the current policies surrounding scientistsâ work at government agencies and to…
by Sarah Vogel
On Friday, August 15, the FDA released its draft assessment of the safety of bisphenol A (BPA). To the frustration and deep consternation of many, the regulatory agency upheld the current safety standard for human exposure to BPA in food. The agency based their decision…
I've written often about the ethics of doctors and pharmacists imposing their own morals on their patients and customers. Our Sb pharmacologist has as well. And even though all of our legitimate professional organizations recognize this line, Bush's Department of Health and Human Services has…
The ScienceBlogs Command Center has decided to fire up a group blog for election season. It's called A Vote for Science, and several Sb'ers and others will be writing about the candidates and science policy (including yours truly).
If your a political junkie and a science geek, cruise on over and…
In this post: the large versions of the Life Science and Physical Science channel photos, comments from readers, and the best posts of the week.
Physical Science. A lever of the first class. From Flickr, by zaxl4
Life Science. Rhopalaea Crassa, a fluorescent colored sea squirt. From Flickr,…
by revere, cross-posted at Effect Measure
Two of my grandsons were here today. They are just babies (16 months and month and half) but one of them is a little colicky. He looks like he is having cramps after downing his formula. But compared to some babies in China, it's nothing. The formula they'…
Candidate's promises and positions do not always match what is constitutionally or procedurally possible. It is possible to wrap oneself in the Constitution and hide behind it at the same time. Several years ago, a child died when a string attached to his 'hoodie' was caught in the frame of…
Bloggers offer advice and observations related to the election:
David Roberts at Gristmill went to the RNC convention and observed that the GOP has three different views on energy: âwhat the pols and power brokers believe, what they tell the base, and what they tell the elite media and political…
One of our sciblings, Dr. Signout, is learning the ropes as she struggles (and presumably excels) through her medical residency. As her writing has picked back up, she has brought up some important questions about medical education and medical professionalism. I'm a little further along in my…
SciBlogs editorial staff looks at the meaning of dominance. Did dinosaurs ever really rule the Earth? Did they ever stop? And what does it mean to be "dominant"?
Two Willet birds in silhouette (Tringa semipalmata; formerly Catoptrophorus semipalmatus) on Morro Strand State Beach. From Flickr, by…
In this post: the large versions of the Technology channel photo, comments from readers, and the best posts of the week.
Technology. Old robotics engineering equipment in Bristol, England. From Flickr, by crabchick
Reader comments of the week:
At Journalism schools behind the times, Coturnix of…
by revere, cross-posted at Effect Measure
Bush has announced he will reduce the forces in Iraq by 8000 by early 2009. My first thought (after "that's it? I thought we were victorious"; and let's get all of them out now as fast as we can) was to wonder what condition they will be in and what's in…
José Herrera, a contract worker at a Citgo refinery in Corpus Christi, was working on equipment when a pipe ruptured and scorched one-third of his body with 550-degree oil. Herrera is now disabled and in constant pain, even in his sleep. Workersâ compensation insurance covers his extensive medical…
By Mary Carol Jennings
In the setting of the upcoming elections, my Senator, Jim DeMint, recently wrote a letter of opinion to the Washington Times opposing a global HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria bill that will provide life-saving medications and prevention against infectious disease in the…
Teh Overlordz have demanded some link love and a reminder that the one million mark is coming up. That means swag, celebration, and song (OK, maybe no singing).
The SE Michigan get-together is still a-plannin' (meaning I haven't decided what place to tell people to show up yet). I'm hoping I can…
I fear for this anniversary. Like everyone else, my memories of 9/11 are vivid. It is a shared experience for Americans, but as time goes on, it is losing its shared meaning. Some of this meaning will, I'm sure, continue to be shunted into political ends, even more so with the election coming up…
The Seattle Post-Intelligencerâs Andrew Schneider reports on another lawsuit from a consumer who says his lungs have been damaged by years of microwave popcorn consumption. The most famous microwave-popcorn consumer, Wayne Watson of Denver, filed suit earlier this year. Watson drew national…
In this post: the large versions of the Education & Careers and Politics channel photos, comments from readers, and the best posts of the week.
Education and Careers. From Flickr, by david_terrar
Politics. Protesters scuffle with police outside the Republican National Convention in St.…
Our post on preventing falls among the elderly has been included in the latest edition of Hourglass, a monthly blog carnival devoted to the biology of aging. Alvaro at SharpBrains has assembled recent aging-related posts in a creative format; for more, check out Ouroboros for the Hourglass…
(I felt Doctor Signout deserved a more complete answer, so here it is.)
I'm surrounded by cynicism. Doctors make particularly good cynics (although not always the best skeptics). Why are we cynics? Pehaps because we see human behavior in the raw. On a daily---no, hourly---basis, we see people…
The recent issues of Newsweek and TIME both carried sobering articles about the state of cancer research. Newsweekâs Sharon Begley reports that cancer is on track to claim 565,650 lives in the U.S. this year, and that number isnât a whole lot better than it was in 1971, when President Nixon signed…